DonateGet A Guide Dog
Are you considering a guide dog for yourself, a friend, or a family member who are blind or have low vision?

The Application Process

Your decision to explore the possibility of having a guide dog as a companion and mobility aid reflects your commitment to enhancing your quality of life and independence, and we admire your courage and determination. To begin the process of getting a guide dog, please review the self-assessment in STEP 1. If you meet those requirements, you may continue to STEP 2 and fill out the application form or give us a call at (210) 366-4081. You may also download the application and email it to outreach@guidedogsoftexas.org or mail to 1503 Allena Dr, San Antonio, TX 78213. At the bottom of this page, you will find downloadable documents that may answer questions you might have in regards to the process, the cost, and time it may take to get a guide dog.

STEP 1

Before you fill out the application, please use the following checklist as a guide to ensure you are ready to get a guide dog from Guide Dogs of Texas.

  • Have you been declared legally blind by an ophthalmologist?
  • Are you at least 16 years of age?
  • Are you a Texas resident?
  • A guide dog will need quality food, several opportunities each day to relieve itself, grooming, veterinarian visits, playtime, and affection from its partner. Can you provide for the physical and emotional needs of this working companion? Can you support an estimated amount of $1,300 annually for the care of a dog?
  • Are those who live with you comfortable with having a dog in the home and are they willing to comply with some basic guidelines Guide Dogs of Texas provides regarding the care, control, and behavior of your dog? What about your friends and co-workers?
  • Do you like the idea of having a dog around when your guide is off duty? A guide dog is usually with you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A significant portion of having a guide dog is simply enjoying their companionship.
  • Would you enjoy having more contact with the public? Partnering with a guide dog frequently attracts the admiration and interest of people around you.
  • Are you able to comfortably walk at least 3 purposeful routes of 25-30 minutes in length, at least 3 times a week? If not, are you willing to develop the stamina and ability to walk this distance? If you need to take a short rest during a walk of this length, you may still benefit from having a guide dog.
  • Are you confident in your orientation and mobility skills (e.g. are you able to hold a fairly straight line while walking, keep track of where you are on route, use traffic sounds to determine when to cross a street)? Are you comfortable generalizing these skills to environments other than your home area?
  • Are you willing to travel with less tactile awareness of your environment? Consider that guide dogs are trained to avoid obstacles rather than locate them (as a long cane does).
  • Are you able to manage a large dog and work the dog in a safe place and walk without any major hazards and walking at a pace in which a guide dog can guide you?
  • Are you able to judge traffic safely on your own, so that cars and crosswalks are not a hazard?
  • If you have a degree of functional vision, do you feel that you can trust a dog to guide you even if the dog picks a slightly different path than you would have chosen? The class curriculum can include partial occludes and/or blindfolds to assist with learning to follow your dog appropriately in cases where you might be tempted to travel visually instead.

Helpful Documents

STEP 2

Have you ever applied to Guide Dogs of Texas before?(Required)
Applicants Full Name(Required)
Physical Address(Required)
Mailing Address (If different than physical address)
Preferred contact method

Personal and Health Information

MM slash DD slash YYYY
Gender(Required)
Please enter a number from 1900 to 2023.

Independent Travel

During a home visit you will be required to demonstrate the ability to travel independently for 1/2 to 1 mile, including street crossings. Please list up to 3 destinations that you travel to independently on a regular basis.

Optional Questions Used For Statistical Purposes

The ethnicity,pronoun, and income fields below are optional. Please feel free to scroll past or fill them out as you like. Fields with a little red star after the name are required fields.
Pronouns
Ethnicity
Annual Household Income: What is your most accurate estimate of your household's total income for the previous year?
We are requesting your participation in the income survey question to aid in the application process for grants.
Before submitting...(Required)
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